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Court Martial
A court-martial (plural courts-martial, as "martial" is postpositive) is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment. Some Union members maintain their own military forces (such as the Klack, the Sarans and the Pan Sarans) have no court-martial but use Royal or regular courts insteadLocal Military, Para Military or Private Military is permitted under Union laws and fall under the “Militia Sub Clause” of the 7th Law of the Union Constitution. Such Units are considered Civilian and are not permitted to own or use weapons considered to be : “Mil Tech Grade”. In addition, courts-martial may be used to try prisoners of war for war crimes. Part of the last Armistice treaty and the Free Space Treaty is the requirement that all POWsPOW = Prisoner of War from the signing parties, who are on trial for war crimes, be subject to the same procedures as would be the holding army's own soldiers. The Union Space Navy has a standard court-martial which convenes whenever a ship is lost; this does not presume that the captain should be suspected of wrongdoing, but merely that the circumstances surrounding the loss of the ship should be made part of the official recordIn some cases the results of a Ship-Loss Court Martial has indicated the need to change certain procedures in which case the if the Captain of the lost ship is still alive, they are often included in the working group to study what would need to be changed. A very common occurrence is, as part of the conclusion, the Presiding Judge having a list of names that should be granted medals for their actions during the incident that caused the lost of the ship in addition to a list of individuals who's actions were punishable along with those punishments. Composition Usually, a court-martial takes the form of a trial with a presiding judge, a prosecutor and defensive counsel (all trained lawyers as well as officers) and (in some cases) a panel of officers (and sometimes enlisted personnel) acting as jury. The precise format varies and depends on the severity of the accusation. Jurisdiction Courts martial have the authority to try a wide range of military offences, many of which closely resemble civilian crimes like fraud, theft or perjury. Others, like cowardice, desertion, and insubordination, are purely military crimes. Military offences are defined and covered under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for members of the Union Army and Ranger Service. The United Stars Marine Corps and the United Stars Navy while technically also subject to the UCMJ, use a slightly updated version of the old much stricter Union Military Regulations and Orders (UMROWhen changes made to the UCMJ causes it to contradict with the UMRO, the later is changed. If by chance changes to the UCMJ causes it to be more strict than the UMRO the later is changed to maintain the higher standard.) Drumhead Court-Martial Star Ship Captains operating outside Union territory and either distance or mission prevents them to return can and even must call to a Court Martial aboard their ships if the situation requires it. Category:Armed Forces Category:Armed Forces - Union Category:Military Terms